


Kiddo

by runawayface



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22626235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runawayface/pseuds/runawayface
Summary: A young Shane visits his Aunt Marnie on the ranch.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Kiddo

**Author's Note:**

> This came about from an ask on my Tumblr account and I was so pleased with how it came out that I decided to publish it to AO3. Enjoy!

Marnie nervously glanced between the clock and her front door, back and forth, as she waited for her sister to arrive. She had received an unexpected call from her sister Peggy, nearly in tears as she vented about her son Shane’s behavior. Apparently he was acting out in school, his grades were failing, and he was giving her tremendous amounts of attitude at home. With his winter break from school beginning, Peggy was desperate to get him out of the house, if even for a few days. She reasoned that a few days on the family’s ranch would be the kick in the pants he needed to start acting right. Marnie was never very good with kids, but she always seemed to get along well with her nephew, Shane. She would never admit it to her other nieces or nephews, but sweet little Shane was actually her favorite. When she had received the frantic call from Peggy, she was happy to oblige and invited Shane to stay in one of the spare bedrooms for a few days to give both Shane and Peggy some space.

When she finally heard a knock on the door, over an hour past the time her sister was supposed to arrive, Marnie swiftly opened the door to find Peggy and Shane standing at her doorstep, both looking miserable.

“Thank you so much for this, Marnie,” Peggy sighed, barreling past Marnie into the house. Shane quietly followed, holding a small duffel bag.

“No problem, Peg,” Marnie answered, closing the door quickly to prevent more cold winter air from entering the house.

“He’s driving me absolutely crazy,” Peggy huffed, throwing her hands up dramatically in the air. Shane shuffled away from the door and stood off to the side, his head down the whole time.

“Please, keep your voice down, he can hear you,” Marnie whispered, narrowing her eyes at her sister.

“I don’t care, I’ve just about reached the end of my rope with him,” Peggy hollered frantically. “Maybe spending a few days on the ranch and seeing what a _real_ day’s work is all about will make him appreciate how good he has it at home. Don’t hold back on him, put that boy to work.”

“Alright, Peg, I think I’ve got it,” Marnie said firmly. She could see Shane shifting uncomfortably in place and knew that it was best to get her out the door as quickly as possible to prevent a heated argument. “Go home, relax, and unwind for a few days. I’ve got this.”

“Good luck, Marnie, you’re gonna need it,” Peggy snapped, narrowing her eyes slightly at Shane. Peggy approached Shane and looked down at him, her expression becoming serious. “You be on your best behavior for your Aunt Marnie, you understand? If I so much as hear that you were anything but well-behaved for her, Yoba help me you will be in a world of trouble.”

“Yes, Mama,” Shane uttered quietly.

“See you both in a few days,” Peggy said, waving to the both of them as she headed toward the door.

“See you in a few days,” Marnie repeated, showing Peggy out the door. Once Peggy was gone, Marnie turned to Shane and gave him a warm, welcoming smile.

“Hey, kiddo,” Marnie said softly, crouching down next to him to look at him at his level.

“Hey, Aunt Marnie,” Shane replied quietly. He finally turned his eyes from the floor to look at Marnie and she could swear she saw the smallest hint of a smile.

“Go ahead and set your luggage down, I want to take you on a tour of the ranch,” Marnie said gently. “It’s been awhile since you’ve been here, I thought you might like to meet some new members of the family.” Shane tilted his head in confusion, causing Marnie to chuckle slightly. “I just mean some new animals.”

Shane set his duffel bag on the floor and followed Marnie outside toward the large enclosure where she kept her animals. Right away, Marnie could see Shane cower slightly at the sight of her large dairy cows, he seemed to position himself slightly behind Marnie and she suspected that he might be slightly intimidated by such large animals.

“These are my cows, in the morning I’ll show you how to milk them,” Marnie began. “They look intimidating now, but I promise you they’re very friendly girls.”

“They’re a lot bigger than I thought they’d be,” Shane said hesitantly.

“That’s because you’re seven,” Marnie said jokingly. “Everything looks a lot bigger when you’re seven years old.”

Marnie continued past the cows and into the coop where she kept her chickens.

“Here’s the chicken coop,” Marnie went on, gesturing toward the many chickens that were strutting around and pecking at the ground. “They’re a lot smaller, so maybe they won’t be so bad.”

Shane glanced curiously around the chicken coop, he seemed a lot more open to the idea of working with the chickens than he did with the cows.

“Tomorrow we can work together to collect their eggs and clean out the coop, it has to be done every day or else the floor will be littered with debris and droppings,” Marnie said casually, though Shane immediately grimaced.

“Ew, gross, we have to clean their poop?!” Shane exclaimed, looking disgusted. Marnie couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Hey, animals have to do their business the same as the rest of us!” Marnie said in amusement. “Just be glad I’m not making you clean up the droppings from the cows, pigs, or sheep, chickens are smaller so it’s not as bad.”

“But Mama said I had to do nothing but work the whole time I’m here,” Shane said in disappointment.

“Well, what your mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Marnie said with a wink. “I’ll have you help with a few things here and there, but I want you to enjoy yourself, Shane. I won’t make you shovel animal droppings all day long, I’m not _that_ mean.”

Marnie very quickly showed Shane the rest of her ranch and introduced him to the pigs, sheep, and goats. Much like with the cows, he seemed to want to keep his distance from the bigger animals. It might be a good idea to just put him in charge of the coop tomorrow, it might help him feel better knowing that he’s fully in charge of something. Once the tour was complete, Marnie led him back into the house so that they could wash their hands. Marnie glanced up at the clock and was startled to see that it was starting to get a bit late in the day.

“It’s almost dinnertime, would you like to go to the saloon with me to grab some dinner?” Marnie offered with a shrug.

Shane nodded quietly.

“What do ya say… does some pizza sound good?” Marnie asked in a slightly higher voice, grinning at Shane. She knew it was his favorite.

“I _love_ pizza, Aunt Marnie!” Shane exclaimed, suddenly perking up.

“I know you do,” Marnie replied affectionately. “I want you to enjoy yourself while you’re here, it sounds like things are rough at home right now and I think you need a break just as much as your mama does.”

“Yeah, Mama’s been getting mad at me lately,” Shane said sadly.

“Wanna talk about it over some pizza?” Marnie asked, resting a comforting hand on Shane’s shoulder. “I’d love to listen.”

“Yeah… we can talk about it,” Shane answered with a small nod.

“Great. Let’s get your coat on, it’s freezing outside,” Marnie said, walking toward the duffel bag that Shane had brought.

“I don’t have a coat,” Shane said, causing Marnie to stop dead in her tracks.

“You don’t have a coat?” Marnie asked softly, looking at Shane in shock.

“I lost it at school and Mama won’t get me a new one, she says that coats are expensive and that if I’m going to lose expensive things, I don’t get to have a new one,” Shane answered, looking down at his feet once more in embarrassment. Marnie’s heart fell at the sight of Shane awkwardly shifting in place, looking away. It was heartbreaking.

“Well I’m sure I have something here that you can use to stay warm,” Marnie finally said, sniffing to try to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes. She didn’t want to start crying in front of her nephew.

Marnie quickly crossed the room to her coat closet and was able to find an old work jacket of hers that she could no longer wear. She had purchased it in her thinner days, before she befriended the local farmer who kept her in a constant supply of pumpkins for freshly made pumpkin pie. This jacket certainly didn’t fit her anymore, at least it could be put to good use. When she helped Shane get the jacket on, she had to stifle a laugh at the sight of the sleeves hanging over six inches longer than his arms and the hem of the jacket brushing along the tops of his knees. She helped him roll the sleeves up as best she could, though it resulted in his arms looking like big, puffy marshmallows.

“Lookin’ good, kiddo,” Marnie said affectionately, flashing him a thumbs up.

“Thanks, Aunt Marnie,” Shane said appreciatively.

Marnie quickly put on her own coat and opened the door to let Shane through so that they could head to the saloon. Once Marnie closed the door behind her and began walking, she faltered for a moment as she felt Shane’s small hand reach for hers, holding her hand as they walked side by side into town.


End file.
